


lie

by lovelaika



Category: Bakemonogatari
Genre: Gen, Ougi Dark Spoilers, Owarimonogatari 2nd Season Spoilers, ougi ougi-ing it up, what the hell is a human?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 17:13:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14217876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelaika/pseuds/lovelaika
Summary: So this is what it was like, being alive that is. It was a strange feeling. More… solid than being an apparition, a contradiction. A lie.





	lie

So this is what it was like, being alive that is. It was a strange feeling. More… solid than being an apparition, a contradiction. A lie.

Not that she still wasn’t strange. Pale skin, dark hair, long sleeves, all black, and her eyes that resembled lightless voids with pupils barely visible. Not strange for an apparition or the personification of “Darkness”, but somewhat uncanny for a human.

But what is a human? What makes her a human?

Is it emotions? She does have those now. Frankly, she found them difficult to cope with, at least compared to her default expression before (which Hanekawa had described as “insufferably smug”). It was strange to react, to feel. 

She would deal with those later. Even that simple smile for Araragi had been nearly overwhelming.

Back up, how do humans describe themselves? A name. Simple, Ougi Oshino. It was a very silly name she had come up with practically on the spot, but it had become the key to her “realness” as that man in Hawaiian shirt’s niece.

She now wondered about family. She, of course, had no  _ real  _ family. That man left as quickly as he arrived. Araragi was sort of like family. It may even be more appropriate to refer to him as her uncle than her “real” one. But she no longer related to him, physically and metaphorically speaking. A year of her high school education remained, he was off gallivanting in college with his Mini Cooper girlfriend.

Next, appearance. Still strange, but it would do.

Gender? Well, that one was still up in the air a bit. While acting as his apparition, Araragi had often referred to her as a girl, but now that label left her feeling somewhat uncomfortable. She had no particular attachment to the label of “boy” or “girl”. Option C, None of the above. Ougi was Ougi

Maybe they were approaching this from the wrong angle. Try a new perspective. What makes an oddity different from a human?

 

...

 

It might make more sense to ask Mr. Hawaiian Shirt. Or the vampire girl. Their inherited perspective from Araragi was somewhat contradictory. They could ask Tsukihi, though their previous encounter was a was still a sore spot for their senpai.

What does a human do? Children played, students went to school, and adults worked. At least, according to Araragi. Six months is not nearly enough time to develop a full picture of human society.

Humans… eat? They could eat. They could try eating. As an apparition, it was not something they were required to do, but could in theory. Humans sleep. They might try to skip that one, it was an awful waste of time. 

Humans can love. Well, apparitions could do that too, some at least. They loved Araragi, in a sense, but not exactly in the way Senjougahara and Hanekawa had. And if they were to be honest, they didn’t care to be much like Hanekawa at all.

Humans and apparitions lied, it was something Ougi excelled at. Their very existence birthed from a lie.

Possibly, maybe, they didn’t need to be different as a human. Ougi was, is, and will continue to be Ougi. Who was Ougi? “Ougi” was a lie that when exposed, became a contradiction. A lie, that when repeated often enough, becomes indistinguishable from the truth.

They needed a home. A positive to not really existing in a traditional sense was not needing somewhere to live. To do the eating and sleeping and whatnot. It may be worth their time to lean on their reliable senpai, but they didn’t want to fall back into old habits in his home. They could pose as a doll like the dead girl (ah, but Tsukihi had already seen them, that wouldn’t do). Senjougahara and Hanekawa did not seem to care for them, and the tiger girl seemed to be in a not-dissimilar transient situation regardless.

Ha, maybe they could make an arrangement with Devil Girl once they finished their business with her. Or was it already done? Their meddling was nonlinear in nature, but they couldn’t remember the farthest they had strayed. Regardless, either way, they would need to wait.

Perhaps the new snail god might have some advice for themAfter all, humans valued the words of the divine. Humans were strange creatures.

 

 

 

They were certainly strange, indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> If it's not clear, Ougi has chosen to use they/them pronouns. This was an old story I had sitting around for a few months. I was going to make it longer, but I decided I liked it how it was. Thank you for reading!


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